The Amazing Spider-Man #1.4

The last issue of Learning to Crawl was sloppy, to say the least. After a solid start, Slott managed to “Slott” it all up, which caused for terrible dialogue and boring characterization (or lack thereof). Fortunately, ol’ Slotty boy has made a turnaround. Everything that made the first two issues worth reading has returned, even though it’s all pointless.

Other than trying to tell your own version of a Spider-Man: Year One, what is the objective? Besides, Batman: Year One is a literary and graphic masterpiece that can’t be emulated. Heck, Frank Miller can go insane (he has) and we still love him for what he did with Year One. The point is, do your own thing. Don’t worry about whatever legacy you think you have.

As far as the story goes, Slott has managed to turn this Clash kid into at least a tolerable adversary. Last issue, we were about to enter Alpha-type characterizing, so kudos for sidestepping that landmine. Clash is further fleshed-out as a sort of d-bag version of Peter. What if Peter was a super jerk and only cared about getting people to like him? That’s the big question being addressed and it works very well. It also helps that our favorite character’s dialogue is not cringe-worthy.

Once again, Perez’s art is stunning. It appears a little rushed in certain spots, but Perez has mostly kept up the stellar work. Herring’s colors are much improved from last issue, making each page a real treat. If nothing else, you can at least say that this is a very pretty story arc.

Nitpicking aside, Slott deserves credit for making a comeback. That’s not easy to do after falling flat on your face. Can Learning to Crawl stick the landing? After this issue, we think it just might.